Stupid Pumpkin Muffins

Ugh.

Its Thanksgiving back home. Irt and I tried to look for a turkey dinner at some restaurant here in Singapore. Singapore only acknowledges American Thanksgiving (fair enough, its far superior - Janell, that was for you - haha). So no turkey dinner. No stuffing. No mashed potatoes. No cranberry sauce. No pumpkin pie. Nothing.

So to ease my thanksgiving misery I thought I would bake pumpkin muffins. Because I make really good pumpkin muffins.

So I did.

As the delicious aroma of pumpkin filled our condo... the worse my mood became.
Stupid pumpkin muffins - reminded me of home and of all the deliciousness we are missing this weekend.

Our usual Thanksgiving dilemma is making sure we make it to all 14 thanksgiving dinners that our families are hosting.
I'm exaggerating.
Its like 3-4.
But its honestly a testament to our time management skills that we somehow make it to all the dinners. We rush around all weekend typically from the friday-monday making SURE we see everyone. Im usually the one craving time to relax - while Irt is enjoying every minute of every family dinner we are at. Hahaha :)

Well. I miss it. I miss the rushing around of thanksgiving. LORD KNOWS I miss the food. and dear god. I miss our families.

Maybe living abroad would be easier of our families weren't so awesome. Maybe living abroad would be easier if our families didn't make delicious food.
MAYBE living abroad would be easier if i could find some damn turkey this weekend.

But here we are / here I am. Turkey-less in Singapore. So. All of you who get to spend time with your awesome families this weekend. I. Envy. You. Enjoy it. Get as sick as I did last thanksgiving. Just kidding. don't to that. My liver was fat.

This picture is from last T-giving. My favorite little friend is in a turkey coma. Laying on the floor. I joined him shortly after. 

SIGH! 73 days til Christmas... 

Fun Fact: I actually hate Turkey. And I typically only eat the sides. lol. But now that turkey isn't even an option... I find myself craving it*.

*craving due to living abroad. (its funny how cautious I have to be when expressing the many cravings i have throughout the day) 

Stupid muffins. 

Scuba Jess. 

No, No... Just Water Please.

Since October 19th (Blair and Anna's Wedding - Hey guys! #blogshoutout) I have only drank water. And black tea with a little bit of sweetener.
That's right, no:
-Coffee
-Pop/Soda
-Milk
-Juice
-Alcohol
-Smoothies that pretend they are made from just fruit
-Delicious coffee/latte anything from Starbucks

Nothing. None of it. Just water and black tea.
For some reason this has blown people's minds... back home but especially here.

I guess for those of you who know me very well you would know that prior to October 19th my day would include at least 1 cup of coffee, followed by several diet cokes and usually finished off with a hot chocolate. Back then the most water I consumed was whatever I swallowed while brushing my teeth.

However, things really changed on October 19th/20th (I remember the dates because I've never been in so much pain in my life haha).
Leading up to that weekend I was living my normal life... drinking all sorts of bad drinks lol and of course eating all sorts of bad food (it was around thanksgiving!)

And I started getting reeeeally sick all the time. Excruciating stomach pains. Throwing up. It was insane and I couldn't figure out what was going on.

So the weekend of the 19th we went to our friend's wedding and had an ammmmmmmazing night filled with amazing food and drinks. Towards the end of the night I started feeling so sick that we had to leave a tiny bit earlier than we had planned on leaving.

We got home and I honestly thought I was going to die. I had consumed all sorts of meds that should fix a tummy ache. I had called my mom, mother in law and telehealth Ontario and no one had any solutions for me. I stayed up most of the night in complete agony until Irt finally convinced me to go to the walk in clinic when it opened at 9am.
We go to the clinic...the doctor presses as hard as he possibly can on my stomach and asks if it hurts. I AM DYING at this point. And he finally sends me to ...

the hospital.

I hate the hospital and I will avoid it all costs. But there I was sitting in emergency being poked, xrayed and tested. It was hell. I was there for close to 8 hours and they had no idea what was going on. REALLY!?

They sent me home with some painkillers and planned for some more tests later that week, which included an MRI (they couldn't perform it that day because the technicians had gone home. way to go milton hospital.)

After more tests later that week I was informed that my liver was fat.
uh hello, of course my liver was fat - look at the rest of me.
my doctor told me that it was unusual for someone my age to be experiencing such liver conditions that I really need to clean up my life style and essentially lose a bunch of weight in the process.

and that was that. All I needed was a legitimate health scare (and a couple of weeks of unforgettable pain) to get my butt moving (in as many ways as possible)

So. Thats why I've started losing weight -  for my liver.

And.

Thats why I only drink water.

Im sure there are people out there reading this right now listing off things that I could be drinking and still be healthy, but .... really whats better than water? the answer is nothing. its clean. its fresh. its pure. go ahead challenge me on this one you will not win.

And many of you are probably saying anything in moderation is fine. and you're right. but for me I needed a good solid cleanse.

Would I love a cool refreshing drink of ....anything other than water at this point? hell. yes. I crave things all the time. ALL. THE. TIME.
And being in Singapore doesn't help where delicious drinks are everywhere lol.

So while I appreciate everyone's effort to convince me to drink something other than water... (Especially my dearest husband... LOL #fail)
It ain't happening lol.
Because I am never going to be in that much pain ever again.

Scuba Jess.
Ps. its totally appropriate that scuba jess only drinks water. is like i'm one with the ocean ahahah
PPS. its weird that I just referred to myself in the third person. i promise to never do that again.

The Cleaning Lady

Where do I begin.

I am messy by nature (although its organized chaos to me) but I LOVE a clean house.
It poses quite a problem in my day to day life.
Back in the Milton house a solid cleaning took place at least once every two weeks.
And an extra cleaning/hiding of stuff when guests were coming over.
Since moving to Singapore cleaning has been much more frequent for two reasons.
1. Visitors.
2. Bugs. (not that we have bugs, but that I'm trying my hardest to prevent them from coming here lol. its to the point where ... if I open a bag of pretzels it must be sealed away in a zip lock after in order to prevent bugs sniffing anything out. wow im way off topic here. but seriously. bugs scare me. and now that i've talked so much about them. one is bound to show up. my god)

Anyways. Like I was saying much more cleaning here in Singapore. Which has been fine because I've just been supplying and I'm done my course for the term.

However, hired help seems to be quite the thing out here. Everyone seems to have a cleaning lady. Or a live in helper. Its 'cheap' (Singapore cheap). So I asked Irt if we could try one out. Slash. He offered in order to get out of helping me clean.

So today is the day that the cleaning lady is coming to clean.

And I already organized the entire house in anticipation of it.

Irt watched in disbelief as I tidied everything up and laid out all the cleaning materials we had (actually he sat and watched 24, but he seemed to be in disbelief about something) however, when he finally did look up from his laptop he was shocked.

Now let me clarify -  I didn't clean. Everything still needs to be cleaned. I simply did things like put laundry away because really, who wants to put our underwear away. (if you secretly do ... for the love of god keep that to yourself because that makes you crazier than me)

So anyways hiring a cleaning lady was a wonderful idea for a couple reasons. (Pros)

1. its a nice little break for me

2. it will help with the pre-cleaning stages before my dad (and mom and sister) arrive in july. (but really the emphasis here is on my dad, as we all know he will be inspecting, and informing me of how to clean better. lol)

And I'm sure this cleaning lady is wonderful and efficient (and oh my god shes here. and I just introduced myself. and she is lovely). but this still doesnt sit very well with me.

For two reasons (wow i love lists) (Cons)

1. Who am I that I can't clean for myself. Am I that busy.. or that important that I need someone to help with my cleaning!? I understand for people who are injured or unhealthy in some way ... but seriously im fully capable of cleaning. From a social justice perspective this is all wrong and the guilt i feel at this point is unbearable. but on the other hand...it is this woman's job? I don't know!? #conflicted.

2. I am crazy. full on crazy.
This wonderful woman is cleaning our dishes as I type. And Im having a minor anxiety attack. Perhaps I need to relax.
Or maybe I should just do my own dishes.

...or maybe I should get Irt to do the dishes ;)

Hahahaha.. well either way... this is one of those new experiences for me.
I can't say for certain that I'll never use a cleaning service again.
But I am enjoying the little break this Tuesday evening
And I also appreciate that phase one of Kingson Klean is under way exactly three weeks before my parents leave for Singapore.

Right. On. Schedule.

Scuba Jess.

Updates

I haven't blogged in a while.
Because we've been so busy its not even funny.
So I thought I'd share some updates :)

Visitors

I don't like using the term visitors for the people who have come to stay with us because they have all been family (including two best friends). But I must say. I think we've spent more time with visitors than we have without them while living here in Singapore lol. We initially moved out here to spend time with each other (we worked flipped hours back home) and I would say in the past four months we've had 4 weeks to ourselves LOL. With that being said ...I've loved having people over. It has made me less home sick. Our most recent 'visitors' were my inlaws.

REAL GROWN UPS.

Thank the high heavens that real adults showed up when they did because I couldn't keep up my act of pretending to be one. My mother and father in law swooped right in and started cooking....cleaning....parenting. I needed a good parenting. Irt needed a good parenting. Now that we've both been babied..clothed and fed... we're good for at least another month...

because in one month...

MY PARENTS!! arrive :) And my sister. But holy moly I'm excited to see my family!!

And then. Thankfully. The visiting stops. And regular life can begin...which is good because ...

Work

So as I've posted I got a job out here at one of the international schools. And... I signed a two year contract lol.. which means... we won't be home until September 2016. Mind you in that time we'll come home at least once a year... maybe more :)
I'm pretty excited and nervous for this job.
Mostly just nervous.
Actually I'm just nervous.
I hate being the new teacher and making new friends. It makes me miss my old teacher friends a lot! #sameena. I know you're reading this LOL.

Hair

Singapore has killed my hair. I moved here with nice long hair (long for me anyways haha ) and singapore killed it one shower at a time. So i've chopped it all off. And while its much healthier now...its also much more fizzy. Thanks Singapore :) Its greatly appreciated.

Friends
We have met so many cool people out here but I initially hesitated to call them all friends. Lots of people are just here to party... (Singapore's night life is awesome lol and I totally get it) But I was looking for more people to connect with outside of a club. In recent weeks it has gotten a lot better. We're slowly finding people like ourselves which I'm grateful for.

My Book Club

Failed. LOL. moving on. (seriously though... do any girls read in singapore? lol c'mon ladies.)

Travel 

We headed to Kuala Lumpur while my best friend Ange was here back in late April/ early May. And we had such a cool experience! However, KL was not nearly as clean as Singapore. When we flew back into Singapore I was so grateful and excited for Singaporean cleanliness I wanted to kiss the ground. And I could have because its that much cleaner than KL.

In late October ....we...are... heading...to..AUSTRALIA!! Which I find to be highly appropriate because I've put up with Australian working hours for almost 4 years lol. This is my pay off...and it was worth every hour.
I have every intention of hugging a koala bear and climbing into the pouch of a kangaroo.
And lets not forget. So. Much. Scuba.

Weightloss

I've stopped losing. Not by choice. Its just stopped.
Perhaps because I ate an entire small pizza to myself the other day LOL
Actually. this is a cry for fitness/food advice. What I was doing has stopped working and I think I need to change up my routine.


And that is my/our life update. I think the excitement of living abroad has slowly turned into some form of normalcy... which is good because we're here for 2 years and I wanted this place to start feeling like home instead of an endless vacation.

So if you're one of those people who reads the beginning and the end of stories...
In short, life is good.
Scuba Jess.

...surely the easter bunny makes his way to singapore..

So... this is the first major holiday that we're away for (because we're married and valentines day is no longer a big deal lol... and we're not  irish so st. patrick's day doesn't really count..) but Easter was a big one back home.

Good Friday.
Good friday has always been spent with my mom's side of the family. All week leading up to Good Friday I think about what I'm possibly going to eat that day (on Good Friday you can't eat meat and I don't eat sea food so this always poses a problem). And I worry that I'll starve that day while everyone eats their fish.
Of course that has never once been the case. My cousin Joey always makes me her amazingly delicious mac and cheese (she literally grates cheese...bakes it with these little croutons on top...its amazing) And she always makes enough for me to take home...and eat for the next week.

...Good friday this year will also have mac and cheese. but the kraft kind. and i don't think i will make it with half the amount of love that joey does.

smmmmile...? its thick and creamy..? i'll try kraft. i'll try. but it aint no joey mac and cheese.

Easter Sunday.
Easter Sunday is usually spent with my Dad's side of the family. My Easter Sunday dilemma also revolves around food. I often wonder why we are eating chinese/indian (which also happens to be our traditional Thanksgiving meal - as the pilgrims would have done it). I sit quietly as the curry smell seeps into my clothing and skin, wishing that we could for once have a 'normal' Easter meal like roast beef (and not curry roast beef as it often tends to be. honestly. this gang will curry anything they possible can). Leading up to dinner my cousins and I will hide chocolate easter eggs. We range in age from 20-36. But we all actively participate. We say its 'for the kids' (justin and grace who make frequent appearances on my facebook and instagram pages) but its secretly for our own enjoyment.  We laugh a lot when we forget how many eggs have been hidden...vs. how many have been found... vs.. how many i've secretly eaten without telling anyone..

.... and none of that. None of any of these awesome easter activities will be happening. What I would do for Joey's mac and cheese ...and for easter egg antics .... for some of that curry surprise food (although in Singapore there are lots of curry surprise to be found as well.. )

Its funny. I can't think of a family (extended family) who gets together as frequently as mine does. And for the longest time I simply couldn't understand why we did it. lol we see each other ALL the time - no exaggeration.
But now that I don't have that luxury of family get togethers I miss it more than anything. While they do face time me so it 'feels like' I'm there...its obviously not the same.

So today..after spending the afternoon with my awesome friend Sabrina (we were teacher friends back in Canada and she moved to hong kong not too long ago & was visiting singapore this week), I went to the store and grabbed something to cheer me up on this long weekend.

Magazines. Hahaha. anyone who knows me knows how much I love magazines. So I bought two :) One from Irt. and one from the easter bunny.
because surely thats what the easter bunny would have left for me back home.

I hope everyone has an awesome time with their families this weekend. I am very very VERY jealous of you.
And I hope my family has an awesome time...
but lets be honest guys. its not the same without me/us.
hahah... seriously though don't have too much fun without me. you know how much this kills me.


hoppy early easter. (haha..see what i did there?)
Scuba Jess.

ps. everything is open here on Good Friday!? One point Singapore.
pps. i have a lot of food dilemmas back home apparently.
ppps. that is also the case out here. hahaha

contrary to popular belief...scuba jess was not lost at sea...

So I've been asked a couple times now why I haven't blogged in a while.
And the truth is...
Moving to Singapore has been hard lol and I really struggled with it.
And generally speaking I like to blog about the new and exciting things that have been happening in my life.
While the month of March did have a lot of fun and exciting things happening in it ( Irt's siblings and one of his best friends came for a few weeks, I started working, I discovered my love for macaroons etc.) it still proved to be one of the most challenging months I've had in a while.
Maybe because the novelty of Singapore has begun to wore off on me. Or maybe because my homesickness extended beyond my kitchen appliances.
I'm not really sure what it was.
But it was definitely the hardest month I've had in a long time. And thats the truth.
So while I may be posting pictures of all the fun stuff we're doing (lol and trust me its fun and I'm very grateful) ... the grass isn't always greener on the other side. I promise.

With that being said...
I seem to have settled into a new routine. And we all know how much I love routine. And the homesickness has passed. And because Singapore is the norm now instead of a novelty... I find myself to be much happier. and much more settled.
And with that being said.
Let the blogs continue.

And let the search for scuba adventures begin.
Scuba Jess

Well. Its been 1 Month.

Feb. 28th makes it one month since we arrived in Singapore - and 6 weeks since I packed all my favourite things away lol (I'll let it go eventually I promise.. but its honestly been like a bad break up. I often wonder if my omelette maker thinks about me as much as I think about him. Of course he does.)

A lot has gone on in the past month. We moved from a hotel to our condo, we experienced a week of no hot water (new building - utilities were still being set up. which has taught me to be very grateful for hot water lol), we waited patiently for our furniture to arrive, I've had a couple job interviews, Irt has worked every hour of every day (whats new) and we've met some really fantastic new friends. 

I've also learned a lot about myself in the past month, for example 

1. I will never like sea food. 

Irt and I went out for dinner to a hawker centre (asian food court) not too long ago and I ordered pineapple fried rice. When I got my rice it had sea creatures in it. Uh. I could barely look at my plate let alone eat what was on it. Lesson for next time ? Pineapple rice  hold the sea creatures. 

2. I secretly still like going to clubs. 

Anyone who knows me ... knows that I hate clubs. I will make up any excuse to not go. It could be my best friends birthday. It could be my husbands birthday but I will find a way out of it. But here in Singapore. Sign. Me. Up. I love it. I actually feel like I'm in my early 20s again. 

3. I am not in my early 20s. 

Although my love for going out to clubs has been rekindled my body reminds me almost daily that im approach my 30s in the next couple years. For example, while I like going to clubs I also enjoy leaving at a reasonable hour. Also, I can only tolerate cold showers for so long. I like being in bed before 11. I require a cup of tea to start my day. The list goes on. I'm definitely an old soul. 

4. I am capable of being fit. 

I have been lazy the majority of my life. Singapore has forced me, FORCED ME, to be active. I have to walk 2,000 steps to the grocery store and 2,000 steps home. Thats 4,000 steps of my daily 10,000 step goal. I have to walk. To get food. Once walking was forced upon me..everything else came so easily. Swimming again. Running. I ran the other day. I wish someone had been there to see it (Just kidding i'm glad no one saw it.. because you think i sweat when i walk... just wait til you see me run) 

5. Home is where my husband is. 

Although I talk about how much I miss our milton house.. and all my household goods (don't worry little friends I'm coming back for you one day).... our home is really where ever the two of us might be. Our condo is slowly starting to feel like the Milton house -lol don't get me wrong its taking a lot of time and a little bit of daily mental convincing- ... but we're getting there slowly. And the fact that Irt and I get to actually spend our nights together instead of being on completely different schedules... makes it all worth it. 

So the verdict thus far...? 

I miss the old place... I miss our friends and family... 

but... 

Its 40 degrees here. 

I am not complaining. 

(Look, I know there have been a lot of pictures of just me lately, but when you lose a bunch of weight, I'm pretty sure you're entitled to all the self portraits you want.)

Scuba Jess. 

(Sea creatures are for looking, not eating. I wish that was the way I got to sign off on all my emails. I'm looking into it as we speak)

15 Days.

15 Days.
15 days is all it took for me to miss home.

Many of you have commented on the fact that I seem to be having the time of my life - which I am lol - but that doesn't mean I'm not missing my home....my family...and most importantly.. my kitchen appliances.

Today Irt thought it would be fun to watch the wedding video (he loves the wedding video) and I thought - SURE why not!
We popped our burned copy into my mac (because it didn't work on his PC #applewin) and we started watching the video.

Half way through the first song... there is a scene with my sister and I. She's helping me fix my dress and she's laughing...smiling...so cute. And I started crying UNCONTROLLABLY to the point where we literally had to stop the wedding video.

I can't watch it. Simply can't. It reminds me too much of how awesome everyone is back home..and how much I miss them.

Vanessa asked me for weeks leading up to the move if I would be okay .... or if I would be too sad here in Singapore and the entire time I promised her I would be fine.

LOL.
#fail.

I will be fine so long as I don't watch anything Vanessa related between now and the time she and my parents get here.

Tissues please.

Scuba Jess.

Thats Not Where Eggs Belong...

I hate grocery stores.

And yet. I'm obsessed with them.

As many of you may know... back at home my most hated day of the week was grocery day. The cart. The list. Unpacking when you get home. Nightmare. No thanks. You do it for me Irt.

However... I am secretly obsessed with grocery stores. Perhaps because thats where all the food and snacks live. Perhaps because I worked in a grocery store for 7 years. (I'll probably have to see a therapist regarding this issue)

Since arriving back in Singapore I've become obsessed with their grocery stores, specifically Cold Storage and Fair Price. So obsessed that I go to one of them every day. Not to purchase anything... but simply to 'check it out' (I'm calling a therapist as we speak).

On my 4th or 5th trip to the grocery store... i started noticing that many of my favourite brands DO live here in Singapore. for example...

Fab. I mean ..Tide. This entire branding thing blew my mind. It took Irt at least 15 minutes to explain to me why Tide is called Fab here in Singapore. And quite frankly I'm still not entirely sure I understand. 

But look . Its Fab WITH downy. Downy is still downy here. One point for Singapore. 

That yellow and orange circle label is very comforting to me. I can only handle so much change. 

Continuing on my grocery adventure brought me to the egg aisle. If you know me at all you know how much i love breakfast ..and eggs. But the whole egg experience in Singapore has been very troubling..because.. look.. 

None of the eggs are kept in a cooler!? None. They're all sitting on a shelf with a sign that states..fresh. Pardon me? 

I stared at these eggs for so long... until finally I saw a blonde hair women who i wrongfully assumed was north american ...and I asked her .. "why are the eggs not in a cooler here?" 

and she replied ... "well.. where I'm from they're not in a cooler either". london. shes from london. they don't keep eggs in a cooler in england? she then proceeded to acknowledge the fact that she does put them in the fridge when she gets home. 

right?! because thats where eggs belong. the fridge. 

lesson from today? blonde people don't know what to do with eggs. 

just kidding. 

lesson from today: don't assume blondes are from north america. 

i already knew that. but this egg situation was so troubling my judgment was clouded. 

man i love eggs. 

scuba jess. 

Why Am I The Only One Sweating

Today Irt came home from work and was so tired he fell asleep. At 4pm. 

I nudged him for a while in hopes of him getting up... but there was no chance in hell of him waking up. 

Tonight's adventure would be a solo mission. 

So i put on my Scuba shoes (which are actually my Birkenstocks) and ventured down to novena station (like the go train station) which actually has a mall inside of it with lots of food options too. 

So I make the 10 minute trek to Novena and upon my arrival i decided - hey - why not walk to our future condo. See how far  the walk is. Great idea. 

The good news is. Its only a 12 minute walk. And thats me walking it. So you fit people could do it in 4 minutes. 

Half way through my walk to the condo i realize that im sweating. A lot. No big deal right? Wrong. I am the only one sweating. I am wearing shorts and a light t shirt and the sweat is unreal. 

Even more unreal is the fact that im the ONLY person in Singapore who is sweating while walking. WALKING. Even worse everyone is wearing formal business attire. Which could include long pants. Long sleeve shirts. And the women are equally as dressed up as the men. And no one. NO ONE except me is sweating. 

Come. On. 

Why am i the only one this sweaty 

Im glowing more than a pregnant woman. Ha. Beat you all to it. Not pregnant. 

So after walking the short walk to the condo i walked back to novena and treated myself to some ice cream. A jr scoop #healthy LOL 

Scared that i would drop my ice cream if i had a cone i opted to get it in a cup. (Im scared to litter or dirty Singapore in any way)

But rest assure Singapore still won this battle... Because i 100% dropped a whole spoonful of ice cream on my foot. 

Should have got a cone. 

...should have got a cone. 

Scuba Jess. 

ZzzQuil: Nyquil's Good Friend.

I came downstairs to my parents living room around 8 am this morning, which is fairly early for me - I usually make an appearance around 10 or 11. My mom was drinking her morning cup of tea and said she was surprised to see me awake so early - implying that at some point last night I went to sleep. Ahahah. Sleep. Anxiety found me again. And as a result i was up for most of the night. Making to do lists. And lists of future lists that I need to make. It was a highly productive night. 

I actually slept more leading up to the wedding than I have leading up to this move. #crazy. 

Anyways. The lack of sleep has caused me to forget how awesome Singapore actually is. Thank god I have this blog ;)

Soon i'll be reunited with my boxes of popcorn, the awesome culture and of course ... All the friends ;) 

And sleep will come. On the plane. Tonight. With my zzzquil and gravol. And if not. Surely Irt will press my legs. Right? Lol. Surely. 

So. I'll see you soon Singapore. And scuba. Lets not forget the scuba. 

 scuba jess.